Rule: You shouldn’t use or end a sentence with an unnecessary preposition, i.e., when the meaning is clear without the preposition. Sentences may end with necessary prepositions.

Correct:That is something I cannot agree with.With is a necessary preposition.

Incorrect:Where did he go to?Correct: Where did he go?To is unnecessary because the meaning is clear without it.

Rule: Don’t follow like with a subject and verb because prepositions are followed only by nouns that act as the object of the preposition. Use as, as if,as though, or the way instead of like when a subject and verb follow.

Correct:I wish I could be more like her.

Incorrect:It doesn’t look like she will show up for dinner.Correct: It doesn’t look as if (or as though) she will show up for dinner.

Incorrect: Do it like I taught you.Correct: Do it the way I taught you.

59 Responses to “Problems with Prepositions”

Hmmm. I was always taught that one should never end a sentence with a preposition. For instance, the sentence, “That is something I cannot agree with” should be changed to read, “That is something with which I cannot agree.” Are both correct? Is the latter correct in more formal documents, while the former in more informal situations?

“Has resulted” indicates something that has happened in the past. “Would result” is needed in a conditional sentence to express a contingency or possibility that something might happen in the future. Also, use the word experienced as the adjective to describe landscape supervisor. You might also consider changing the word profit to benefit.

My work experience and education combined with your need for an experienced landscape supervisor would result in a relationship that would benefit both parties.

The story has it that Winston Churchill, when accused of ending a sentence with a preposition, replied, “That is something, up with which I will not put!” What a great sense of humor…

Thanks, Jane, for your efforts to preserve correct grammar. I’m 55, and I still think of my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs Grenberg, at least once every week as I encounter others making common grammatical errors, both in speech and in writing.

Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of writers using “arrive to” a place. Shouldn’t it be “arrive AT” a place, or are we changing “modern” grammar to appease the masses who don’t know or care to learn any better?

I agree that arriving “at” a place is correct. In the case of a city, you could even use “He arrived in New York at 3:00.” The only time I would use “arrive to” would be arriving to do something, such as “He arrived to help fix George’s car.”

Either one is grammatically correct, but they convey slightly different meanings. “The children must stay in the store” indicates that the children must stay inside the building. “The children must stay at the store” conveys that the children must stay at the store as opposed to going elsewhere, but that they do not necessarily have to stay inside.

The term bus stop is defined as “a point (as a street corner) on a bus route at which buses stop and which is often marked by an overhead sign.” Therefore, “Are you at the bus stop?” would be correct. Sometimes bus stops are located inside an enclosed shelter, but you would not say you were in the bus stop.

Which is correct…I wrote them both down OR I wrote down both of them. I know the rule of thumb that you should not end a sentence witha preposition, but isn’t there another rule being broken here? Something about splitting something? I can’t remeber. Can you help?

Regarding ending a sentence with a preposition, the rule in our blog on Problems with Prepositions says, “You shouldn’t use or end a sentence with an unnecessary preposition, i.e., when the meaning is clear without the preposition. Sentences may end with necessary prepositions.” The only example of a preposition in your sentences is of. Neither of your sentences ends with a preposition, but one ends with a prepositional phrase (of them). Chicago Manual of Style recommends limiting the use of prepositional phrases by stating, “Prepositions can easily be overused. Stylistically, a good ratio to strive for is one preposition for every ten to fifteen words.” Therefore, I would recommend “I wrote them both down.”

The word for is a preposition. It’s ok to end a sentence with a preposition. As The Chicago Manual of Style says, “The traditional caveat of yesteryear against ending sentences with prepositions is, for most writers, an unnecessary and pedantic restriction.”

That said, I need to tell you that your sentence is grammatically incorrect. Our rule for Who vs. Whom states, “Use who when you could replace it with he. Use whom when you could replace it with him.” Your sentence is just another way of writing This book is for whom? Since you would write This book is for him, whom is the correct word to use rather than who.

I have noticed my British mother-in-law omitting prepositions and chalked it up to her Lancashire upbringing, or the differences in a common language. It always felt wrong and rankled my sense of propriety. Now I notice the same omissions commonly in American speech.

She says, “I graduated college,” and “I graduated high school.” I hear these frequently from people in this country. The worst of my mother-in-law’s omitting is, “Give it me.”

You are probably right that dropping the prepositions by your mother-in-law is due to what she heard growing up in her part of England. As for American speech, I agree with The Associated Press Stylebook which says, “Graduate is correctly used in the active voice: She graduated from the university. It is correct, but unnecessary, to use the passive voice: He was graduated from the university. Do not, however, drop from: John Adams graduated from Harvard. Not: John Adams graduated Harvard.“

I have noticed my British mother-in-law omitting prepositions and chalked it up to her Lancashire upbringing, or the differences in a common language. It always felt wrong and rankled my sense of propriety. Now I notice the same omissions commonly in American speech.

She says, “I graduated college,” and “I graduated high school.” I hear these frequently from people in this country. The worst of my mother-in-law’s omitting is, “Give it me.”

You are probably right that dropping the prepositions by your mother-in-law is due to what she heard growing up in her part of England. As for American speech, I agree with The Associated Press Stylebook which says, “Graduate is correctly used in the active voice: She graduated from the university. It is correct, but unnecessary, to use the passive voice: He was graduated from the university. Do not, however, drop from: John Adams graduated from Harvard. Not: John Adams graduated Harvard.“

“It’s a good place to be” is correct. The reason is explained in the first rule of “Problems with Prepositions”: You shouldn’t use or end a sentence with an unnecessary preposition, i.e., when the meaning is clear without the preposition. Sentences may end with necessary prepositions.

The word “at” is an unnecessary preposition that adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence.

How come agree has lost its preposition (with, to, on) everywhere recently? For example, ‘we must agree the details before we can move on’ or ‘the two nations are agreeing arrangements for cooperation.’ I see this even in the NYT and on the BBC news site.

The word agree without a preposition is used chiefly in British English. The definition is “to settle on by common consent: arrange.” Example: I agreed rental terms with him. We agree that your examples sound grammatically incorrect in American English.

If you are talking about the service provided in a restaurant, you would use “waiting on you.” Some people might argue for “waiting for you” in reference to waiting for someone to arrive, waiting for someone to finish a task, or similar situations. However, to us, they’re more or less synonymous. Waiting on for waiting for is common in many American dialects.

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